WHAT’S THAT A-BOOT? Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski arrives in Indianapolis yesterday for Super Bowl XLVI wearing a walking boot on his left foot.AP

INDIANAPOLIS — Rob Gronkowski was finally seen in public yesterday, but the status of the Patriots tight end for Super Bowl XLVI remained unclear after their arrival here.

Gronkowski, whose father said the tight end suffered a high ankle sprain in New England’s AFC Championship win over the Ravens last week, wore a large walking boot on his left foot as he boarded the Patriots’ plane yesterday.

Knowing the cameras would be zoomed in on that foot, Gronkowski, who hasn’t spoken to the media since the injury, at one point jogged with a limp to show the sprain wouldn’t be a factor against the Giants this Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium. Even better for the Patriots, Gronkowski was not on crutches.

But coach Bill Belichick certainly didn’t clear anything up about Tom Brady’s favorite weapon, who caught 17 touchdowns (an NFL record for a tight end) this year in his second pro season.

“Day-to-day,” Belichick said tersely when asked about Gronkowski during his first news conference after arriving here last night.

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A crowd estimated at 25,000 showed up at Gillette Stadium to send off the Patriots yesterday, a figure that amazed owner Robert Kraft considering that was the size of some of the game crowds the franchise drew in its dark days of the 1970s and ’80s.

“I sat with those crowds back then,” Kraft said at the team hotel yesterday. “I sat in those stands [at old Foxboro Stadium] when we had only one home playoff game in 34 years. We’ve come a long way.”

The Patriots will be practicing at the Colts’ facility, a fact that New England guard Logan Mankins found strange in light of the intense rivalry between the two teams over the past decade.

“It’s going to be weird walking around out there with the Colts’ colors and Colts’ logos all over the place,” Mankins said. “I’m sure seeing that won’t feel too good for [the Colts], either.”